Miniature GPS Antenna Arrays Using Novel Materials

Ubiquitous applications of Global Positioning System (GPS) systems imply a requirement for smaller GPS antennas and arrays to be adapted in all sorts of military and commercial platforms from missiles to small UAVs and even for hand-held applications. Current anti-jamming GPS antennas are approximately 14" in diameter, making them too large for several platforms of interest such as unmanned aerial vehicles, missiles and fighter aircrafts. Applied EM proposes to develop a six element controlled-radiation-pattern-antenna-array (CRPA) operating at both the L1 and L2 frequency bands using a 3.5" aperture. The realization of this small CRPA (S-CRPA) requires the design of a miniature antenna element, about 1” in diameter. To achieve this goal, low and high risk approaches are outlined to realize an antenna element that will approach the fundamental limits of miniaturization. Multilayered high contrast dielectrics, metamaterials structures and compact feeds are proposed. Low inter-element coupling and gain improvements at near gazing angles are also emphasized in our approaches. The proposed designs builds on recent GPS antennas developed at Applied EM, and specific improvements are outlined to achieve the stated design requirements.